Archives for December 2016

December 2016

When we left our wardrobe at the end of the day yesterday, this is where we were - 25 pieces, lots and lots of ways to wear them, a good balance of colors EXCEPT those 2 beige/brown pieces. I'm still not feeling comfortable with them...

If you need to catch up to where we are, check Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday's posts.

In order to evaluate this wardrobe, there are lots of options (see the various ways that I reviewed the "12 Months, 12 Outfits" wardrobes for some ideas), but I like to just sort by color and see what seems obvious.

They grey items look great - a little heavy on outerwear and sweaters, which suggests a blouse, shirt or tee shirt might be a good ... View the Post

We're up to a 15-piece capsule wardrobe, all based on this truly amazing photograph:

I'm still not tired of the photograph...

You can see how we got this far by looking back to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's another... color scheme hurdle? I'm not sure what to call it... but I'm still struggling with the inclusion of the warm tan/camel/brown color family in this wardrobe, and I'm not quite sure why...

But one of the easiest ways to incorporate these colors into a wardrobe is through camel - specifically, a camel sweater. And just in case you were wondering, these sweaters from Uniqlo (like the turtleneck shown here) are very nice quality, and very affordable. They're not life-investments, but if you've always wanted to own ... View the Post

When we left this wardrobe yesterday, we had nine pieces of clothing - a small assortment, but sufficient for two dozen outfits. And the wardrobe has a nice coherent look that's beginning to take shape:

Time to bring some more color into this wardrobe! The photograph from which we're working gives us options for a wide range of shades of purple, from the lightest pastel to the deepest violet blue. The differences between these 2 colors means that you will have outfits that "feel" two very different ways.
And a bit more gold metal jewelry, as suggested by the clouds in the upper left corner of the photograph. The grey stones still anchor this necklace well within a grey-based wardrobe. (I hope!) Botkier has a handful of pieces available ... View the Post

When we left this wardrobe, it was very neutral, and very simple - but this is the way to start a really functional wardrobe! If you get these building blocks in place early, your later additions will be effortless to wear, and you'll have lots of options...

One of the joys of working with this photograph is the wide range of accent colors available. All sorts of pink, lavender, lilac and deep purple colors can be taken from this image. It's so beautiful...

And in observance of the strong warm coloring in the top left color of the photo, I'm going to see if we can make gold jewelry work here. The Botkier bracelet has grey stones, which feels very much like it will help tie the gold and the greys together. We shall see!

Join me on this adventure! Someone wrote to me last week, after I showed this amazing storm photograph, asking if these colors could work as accents for a capsule wardrobe that is mostly grey.
Well... maybe. I'm going to give it a try, to see how it works. But I have a real concern: all of the shades of pink and purple will be glorious accents to the grey wardrobe, and would be madly flattered by black leather goods and silver jewelry with pink, lavender or purple beads, stones or pearls. HOWEVER... introducing the warm browns and tans into the mix immediately makes me think that I need to use gold, rather than silver, jewelry. And I'm not at all sure where the leather pieces will fit in....
Nonetheless, we shall endeavor to make ... View the Post

She traveled for the winter holidays, and she traveled to a much warmer destination. But now, she wants to travel from one cold city to ANOTHER cold city, and then take the train to a nice warm break in the countryside... Dressy and casual. Warm and cold. What's she going to do?
Stick with the plan!

Her favorite colors - dare she say her signature colors?
This travel outfit worked so very well for her at the holidays - no need to fix what isn't broken. And when she gets to the next city, she'll be ideally dressed for a leisurely lunch while waiting for her hotel room to become available. It's always wise to think about how your first hours will be spent when you've arrived somewhere; you can't always just ... View the Post

Done with Winter (for a weekend, at least)
Our heroine is ready for a couple of days of warmth. She'd like to see her toes...

It's the same heroine we've been following all week; she's referencing her first color scheme, seen here:

Since she's leaving a cold climate, long sleeves, a sweater, and "real" shoes are essential:

But once she's on the ground for the weekend, she's VERY hopeful that she's going to be able to wear capris, and sandals, and tee shirts, and bright colors...

She's not crazy - she understands that she might still have a cool day or two, and definitely the evenings won't be as warm as the days. But she doesn't care, because she's prepared. And because she KNOWS that it won't snow...

She just wanted to see San Francisco again. There was really no better reason for her trip than that. And she had a long weekend off of work, so she thought the time appropriate. When a very attractive airfare appeared, and she got the email that her free nights at the hotel chain were soon to expire, she knew she was going!

(that airline credit card is brilliant...)

She's going to eat. The Stinking Onion, lots of seafood, some take-out focaccia, and anything else that strikes her fancy. Because she's going to walk - uphill and down...

Art... There's definitely a lot of art on this weekend's agenda...

But really, more than anything, she's hoping for fog. Lots of damp, lung-filling humidity that will ... View the Post

After the madness that was Christmas, our heroine decided that she's going to go away for a long weekend for New Year's Eve and Day... So she sends her core 4 garments to be cleaned (of course she washes her own jeans!) and starts making plans.
Because it's the new year, she's feeling the desire for a pretty spring flower pink, and lovely sky blues...

So she switches up just SIX things that she packs (and decides to wear her amazing leafy-trimmed coat) and gets ready to set out for the city...

She's going out - alone - to dinner and then a concert on New Year's Eve. She plans to be in bed well before midnight...

And on New Year's Day, she has NO PLANS AT ALL. None. She's going to get up when she ... View the Post

I saw a TON of art when I was in Paris, so you're going to be inundated with "Start with Art" capsule wardrobe for the foreseeable future!

I think anybody who has met me can appreciate why this painting caught my eye immediately:

I loved the clarity and simplicity of this painting - the color scheme is a refreshing change from seeing black and white with red so frequently. (not that I'm going to quit wearing red any time soon, but I do understand that it's ubiquitous...)

She's NOT Feeling Christmassy...
Some years, you just don't...

But she knows that she has to look beautiful for a couple of days, so she breaks out her favorite colors (no red, thank you!) to accent her best black clothes...

When I take pictures in Paris, I'm a little bit... reckless? Carried away? It's hard to avoid - between the excitement of being on vacation, and the EXCITEMENT of being in Paris... well, there's a lot of beauty that I feel that I want to capture. And much of it doesn't fall into any nice thematic sort of plan, so I'm just going to show you things!

First - PASTRIES!!! The holidays are when chestnuts come into their own, and my favorite dessert - Mont Blanc - is topped with a TON of candied chestnuts that have been forced through a ricer. I can eat these until I am absolutely ill...
But if chestnuts don't appeal, every pastry shop window has a ton of possibilities!

The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...

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